Graflex.org

JoePhoto · Joined: 13 Oct 2001 Posts: 75 Location: New England

Guess I'll have to get by with my "Little Bertha" until I get one of those...

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Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2120 Location: New Jersey

JoePhoto · Joined: 13 Oct 2001 Posts: 75 Location: New England

Actually it's a Tele Peconar with the bellows racked out as far as I could safely go. At that extension it's about the same as a 14 inch lens lens. Got the surfers a little bigger on the frame.....

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If the best can't be had let the worst continue....

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2120 Location: New Jersey

Discpad · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:26 pm Post subject:

JoePhoto · Joined: 13 Oct 2001 Posts: 75 Location: New England

I just found this ad in my files. I can't remember where I got it, though.

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If the best can't be had let the worst continue....

Discpad · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:01 pm Post subject:

That's the one!! 500mm, 600mm, and 1000mm (in the illustration).

I want one of these! At the race track in the media centers, we all show off our shiny lenses to see who has the biggest... One of these Big Bertha's will win the contest every time!!

Do you have just the ad you see there, or any of the rest of the catalog you could scan in and post, too?

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2120 Location: New Jersey

All it takes is money. Lens & Repro will be happy to sell you a Graflex in good order. They also have long lenses, and if they don't have what you want there are other sources. If you're not up to designing and machining -- back when, some daily papers had the resources to make Big Berthas -- there's always SKGrimes.

Discpad · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject:

No, Lens & Repro will not sell their Big Bertha either... I already asked. They will rent it out as a movie prop, but not for actual use... I tried.

I'm already a "Frequent Flyer" with Adam at S.K. Grimes, as I have two more "David Burnett Combos" in production.

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2120 Location: New Jersey

I wasn't suggesting that you buy a BB, rather that you make one.

Discpad · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 10:51 pm Post subject:

If I did, it would be with a Speed Graphic, not an RB.

...And I thought about doing just that, too: Most likely with a 24" (600mm) Aero-Ektar.

The hard part is the fast focusing with a gear shift lever; though where I plan on using it (at a speedway on a rooftop), I'd be focused on infinity, with perhaps a touch of lens tilt.

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2120 Location: New Jersey

I've also contemplated making a Big Bertha with a Speed, concluded that a long lens wants an SLR with moving subjects. And I do have a tandem 2x3 Graphic whose longest lens is a 480/9 Apo Nikkor. At infinity it covers 2x3 just fine.

I've had in mind for a couple of years to build the next version, which will mount, with some difficulty, the 610/9 Apo Nikkor that I haven't yet bought. As I calculate it, a 610 on the extended tandem will cover only 6x6. But I don't feel much pressure to move on the next version since the longest lens I find much use for on the tandem is a 360. The 480 is nice, don't get me wrong, but its been a while since I've had it with me in a situation that wanted it.

IMO, if you're going to shoot 4x5, not 2x3 like me, a 24" lens is on the short side. When I contemplate it, a 40 incher seems better.

OTOH, in the mid-60s I shot sports car races with a viewfinder type 8/8 cine camera. Prefocusing helped a lot.

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

This is interesting. While the ad can't be refuted, I always thought of these as little berthas, as they were based on the 4x5 Super D, the earlier Big Berthas were based on the 5x7 Home portrait Graflex. And the earliest big berthas were conjured from Naturalist Graflexes (Graflesies?)
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Discpad · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:39 am Post subject:

The Big Bertha in the window at FotoCare is built on a 5x7 Graflex.

Dan F.: Have you ever tried using the sports finder on your Speed/Crown? It works pretty well...

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2120 Location: New Jersey

For the most part I focus and compose on the GG. The wire frame finder is ok for a normal lens, not so ok for other focal lengths.